Integrated Development Plan of the Issyk-Kul Zone Summary 8 ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT Environmental Capacity and Pollutant Loads For the integrated regional development plan of the Issyk-Kul zone, the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) has been applied to evaluate overall pollutant loads to be caused by changes in land use and development projects envisaged under the moderate growth scenario. As discussed previously, the most sensitive is the pollution of water quality in the Issyk-Kul Lake. Under the moderate growth scenario, the lake water quality will be degraded to some extent as predicted in the table below. The extent of pollutant loads in terms of BOD, total nitrogen (NH4-N, NO2-N and NO3-N) and total phosphorus (PO4-P) appears to be permissible in the light of international standards for lake water quality. Table S.10 Predicted Water Quality under Moderate Growth Scenario (mg/l) Current Moderate Growth Scenario Permissible (2002) 2010 2025 Level BOD 0.61 0.66 0.75 1 T-N 0.15 0.16 0.18 0.2 T-P 0.0011 0.0012 0.0014 0.005 Source: JICA Study Team Quality of river water flowing into the Issyk-Kul Lake should also be assessed and monitored. The available data, though limited as they are, indicate that river water flowing through agricultural lands has been degraded to some extent. Table S.11 Water Qualities of Major River Inflows into Lake Issyk-Kul (Average of 1988~1992) (mg/l) Djyr Djeti Cholpon Chon River Name Tyup Karakol Tamga Ton Akk-Sai -Galan Oguz -Ata AK Suu BOD5 1.70 1.99 1.90 1.60 2.10 1.10 0.56 0.79 0.83 T-N 1.17 1.14 1.02 1.10 0.91 1.22 0.91 0.91 0.81 T-P 0.016 0.017 0.013 0.011 0.016 0.014 0.013 0.011 0.009 Source: JICA Study Team Emission of air pollutants from stationary sources will not be a serious concern as far as the industrial proposals are controlled individually. Automobile emissions will increase in line with the increased traffic volume. Total volume of automobile emissions as estimated below, implies that the atmospheric pollutants will not be serious under the moderate growth scenario. Table S.12 Estimated Volume of Automobile Emissions (Moderate Growth Scenario) (ton/year) 2004 2010 2025 CO HC NOx CO2 SPM CO HC NOx CO2 SPM CO HC NOx CO2 SPM Boom Valley 52 12 35 7,582 5 77 16 49 11,161 6 159 34 104 23,298 14 Balykcy - Cholpon-Ata 112 24 74 16,451 10 167 34 105 24,547 14 339 70 216 49,561 28 Cholpon-Ata - Karakol 73 20 61 11,334 8 107 28 85 16,403 12 249 65 200 38,256 28 Ring Road South 50 14 41 7,745 6 99 24 73 14,910 10 198 44 138 19,304 20 Tup-Kegen - - - - - 2.4 0 1 338.57 0 0 0 0 45.44 0.0 TOTAL 287 70 211 43,112 28 454 102 313 67,360 42 945 214 657 130,464 90 Source: JICA Study Team S-20 Integrated Development Plan of the Issyk-Kul Zone Summary Environmental Management The legal foundation for environmental management is provided in the Law on Environmental Protection (1999), and details of management procedures are defined in the Law on Ecological Expertise (1999). The environmental impact assessment (EIA) is adopted for the works of project initiators, while the rest of the management process is entrusted to ecological expertise regulated by the Instruction on State Ecological Expertise and the EIA Instruction, as well as the Law on Ecological Expertise. In order to streamline the procedures for EIA, it is proposed that the Law on Ecological Expertise, Instruction on State Ecological Expertise and EIA Instruction would be merged and a simplified process applied. The Law on Ecological Expertise should also be amended with regard to the roles of local administrations and local councils to reflect the new roles of LSGs and local administration bodies. The Issyk-Kul Fund for Environmental Protection has been maintained with fees collected at the eco-post, fine and nature use fees (approximately 4 million soms). Management of this Fund should be rectified so that the Fund could be used for priority programs of environmental protection in Issyk-Kul. Accountability of the Fund management should also be improved. For management of water quality in the Issyk-Kul Lake, various programs are proposed for implementation. These programs are summarized and illustrated in the following figure. Institutional/ Regulatory Reforms Areawide total Pollutant Load Control System Setting up of the Target Quality Values Improvement of Existing Regulations and Facility Based Water Quality Preservation Information and Awareness Renovation of the Existing Sewage Treatment Formation of Lake Water Quality Monitoring Program Wastewater Treatment Control in Promotion of Investigation and Study on Lake Integrated Septic Treatment System in Rural Environment Management of Inflow River Water Quality and Environmental Education/Awareness Building Restoration of Natural Purification Mechanism of Source: JICA Study Team Figure S.16 Scope of Environmental Management Plan S-21 Integrated Development Plan of the Issyk-Kul Zone Summary 9 SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Major Focuses As pointed out in Section 3 , education and public health services have been degraded and burdens on individuals have been increasing. Under the poverty reduction policy, the Kyrgyz government and donor agencies have been providing various supports to improve social services, particularly in the rural area. Through discussions with stakeholders, it has been agreed that the integrated regional development plan should focus on the following issues: (1) The social capital should be strengthened through reactivating village communities; (2) Income generation activities should be promoted in a more active manner; (3) Seasonal unemployment should be improved during the off-tourism season; (4) Communities should learn how to market their products to tourism facilities; (5) Communities should have proper funding for maintenance of village infrastructure; (6) Self-help efforts should be made in improving the social environment in communities; (7) The youth should be particularly nourished; and (8) Vocational training should be improved for active participation in tourism Pilot Project for Community Empowerment To learn how to reactivate community-based development under the tourism-led regional development, two villages (Ornok village and Oruktu-Hutor village) have been selected for the pilot project. Starting with the renovation of their community centers, community-based organizations (CBOs) have been formed with the support of NGOs and community development plans (CDPs) have been formulated. Training for villagers has been carried out in such fields as accounting, services for tourists, youth leadership, and so on. Yulta shops have been opened and village products (e.g., handicrafts, jam, herbs) were sold to tourists and visitors. The profit of Yulta shops in August-October 2004 amounted to around 8,000 soms at each village. Photo S.3 Workshop for Community-based Planning Photo S.4 Yulta Shop for Marketing Village Products Communities have come to recognize that collective efforts and collaboration are indispensable and they voluntarily initiated learning the English language to be able to attend foreign customers at Yulta shop. They have also contracted with tourism agents for marketing. Community-based development is found to be effective for promotion of linkages with tourism and other industries. S-22 Integrated Development Plan of the Issyk-Kul Zone Summary Community Development Programs Based on the lessons learned from the pilot CDPs, several programs for social and community development are proposed. They include: (1) Community empowerment programs combined with village nursery programs; (2) Development of marketing systems for community products; (3) Creation of a Community Fund at the village/community level; (4) Networking of communities in promoting social and community development; and (5) Deregulation and public support in CDPs. Community empowerment is to be promoted by a learning-by-doing process facilitated by NGOs. Competition among CDPs may be taken into account to stimulate villagers and communities in active involvement in CDPs and to make the utmost use of available resources. Development of marketing systems should also be Improvement guided by NGOs or Poverty of Living appropriate experts. The Reduction Environment Yulta shop is considered to be an example of Savings “Michi-no-Eki”, or road Community Community station, but its location Business Development Fund should be evaluated well. Business Сapital Packaging, labeling and Legal Support other marketing practices Community Empowerment should be collectively programmed. Creation of a Social Capital Community Fund should be further examined for better operation in practice. Source: JICA Study Team Creation of an Issyk-Kul Figure S.17 Concept of Community Empowerment Programs Foundation by donations from FDIs in tourism and other industries should also be further studied. Communities, even if they are empowered, would turn out to be less sustainable unless they are networked and self-supporting. A plan to set up a Civil Society Support Center among NGOs is encouraging. Such an effort is desirably oriented towards training of community leaders and their ownership is encouraged. They would be networked through the Internet. Since self-help efforts at the community level are hindered by various legislative procedures at the LSG and Oblast levels, deregulation should be implemented so that communities’ development can be implemented through villagers’ initiatives. S-23 Integrated Development Plan of the Issyk-Kul Zone Summary 10 AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT Major Focuses on Agricultural Development Agriculture in the Issyk-Kul zone contributed 57% of GRP (without Kumtor) and 55% of employment in 2002; hence it is the most significant sector for the people and Oblast. For agricultural development, major focuses are placed on the following: (1) Farm land will not be expanded but productivity should be improved; (2) Crops should be diversified to attain higher value added; (3) Farmers’ organization should be reinforced; and (4) Marketing systems should be improved.